Time Lapse Video of Sunset in Central Park, NYC

The day after arriving in Manhattan, I ventured to Central Park which was only a 30 minute walk away.

Before I left for NYC I'd been scouring the internet and had seen some amazing videos of sunset over the city and I set myself a mini project of capturing the sunset over Central Park.

The sun set at around 6.30 and I got there an hour earlier and set up my cameras.





I was over looking Sheep Meadow, on the south end of the park. I set my cameras rolling and people watched for the next hour. The office workers taking time to enjoy the park after a long day in the office, the kids playing, dog walkers and those just strolling and taking in the evening. I stayed there until the sun had set and a park warden came along, he walked into Sheep Meadow and shouted out that the gates were closing and everyone had to leave. I had secured my cameras to the actual gate that need to be locked so it was time to move on.

I stayed in the park a little longer and took a seat nearby two New York old timers and eavesdropped on the conversation. They were talking about how times have changed, old friends, their failing health, and good times too. Thank you to those two gentleman who let a tourist have an insight into their lives.

I hope you enjoy the video!

Decompressing from New York!

I've been home from New York for about 10 days already and I am adjusting back to Birmingham life.

How does one get over the best trip they've ever had to the best city in the world?

Well, it isn't easy! First the jet lag to contend with, which pretty much kept my brain numb for a bout a week. I think that might have been a good thing as it probably kept the post holiday blues at bay. Next letting the New York experience sink it. Did that really happen?!

Now I have in front of me the pretty huge task of photo selecting and editing and of course, video too! I'm getting there and am about a third of the way through.

So watch this space. I'll be telling you my tales from the Big Apple. From the people I met and the friends I made. To getting lost and having adventures. To all the sights, sounds and energy of a city like no other!

New York! I miss you! :)

Ebracing New York City Life

Hi!

Thought I would never get to blog! Technical difficulties I think they are called. But that's for another post.

So, here I am. Living in the heart of the Manhattan for the next month. I am not sure I can still quite believe it. It's been a year or longer since I first decided to make this trip, then when I booked my flights about 10 weeks ago it's been a manic time of planning which has included announcing the next global 4am Project date and plans for hosting an event in Times Square on the 17th. During this time I was so busy I never had the chance to sit down and imagine what it would be like to be here.

Now I am here, and it feels strangely familiar. Yes, I did go to New York for a few days about 8 years ago, and of course the imagery is all over the TV and films etc. It just feels so natural to be here, and already a month doesn't seem long enough.


Despite promising myself an early night before I set off for New York, I couldn't sleep. I had a 4am start so of course had to take a photo!



It paid to get to the airport extra early and I managed to avoid queuing to check in and to go through security. As I was waiting to board the flight, nerves finally kicked in. I sent last minute tweets to my friends and texted my best friend and mum. That's it, I was finally going!




The Continental flight was good enough and I passed the 7 hours by watching films, and chatting to the passengers in my row, a group of men who are American classic car fanatics who were heading to LA for a road trip.

At Newark Airport

After much studying of my accommodation options for my month long stay, I opted to rent an apartment. Firstly due to cost. It was the most economical way for me to stay in Manhattan, especially for this length of time. Secondly, I thought it might be handy when watching my budget to be able to made something to eat in the kitchenette from time to time. Thirdly, I really wanted to feel like I'm living in NY, and I don't think I would have got that feeling as a guest in hotel.

I did so much research after hearing stories about people being scammed with apartment rentals. Also, not every apartment can be legally rented. For a lot of them it's illegal for residents to sublet them. So again, this was a factor I had to look into. I didn't want to find myself staying somewhere I should and finding myself without a roof over my head halfway through my stay!

Anyway, welcome to my Manhattan apartment! What do you think? I'm really pleased with it. It's more spacious than I thought it would be too, and the fold down bed is proving quite a challenge in strength! ;)

I'm staying in the Hell's Kitchen area. At the end of my street are restaurants that would satisfy every taste, lot's of bars, and some amazing deli's. Hell's Kitchen is becoming the new gay area of the city. I love it here. And luckily there doesn't seem to be too many tourists! ;)

Goodbye Birmingham...Hello Manhattan!

At this time on Friday, I'll be landing at Newark airport ready to begin the Big Apple Unpeeled adventure!

My bags are packed. Well, they have been packed for two weeks now! There are advantages to being a premature packer I can assure you. Well, apart from the tiny matter of trying to squeeze 9lbs/1000 flyers in at the last minute!

I always like to be prepared, but I think on this occasion I was a little too prepared and hadn't bargained for the size or weight of the flyers!

The flyers are advertising the 4am Project photo walk that I am going to hold in Times Square on 17th October. I've been doing as much of my own PR as possible and thought I'd back that up by handing these out to folks in New York.



I'm planning on doing this on the first few days I am in the city, and hope that it might prove a good way of getting to know new people too!



With hindsight being the wonderful thing that it is, I guess I should have printed the flyers in NYC, but hey, I can't think of everything.



So, the next time I write here, I'll be in the heart of Manhattan and will be beginning to unpeel the Big Apple!





Stay tuned for photos, videos, stories and more!

Using Google City Tours for New York City

I discovered Google City Tours the other day and got quite excited about the possibilities!

You just put in your location, with the option of adding in dates as well. Great!

Hmm. Well, perhaps not so great. I lost patience with it very quickly.....

My first search under 'Manhattan' delivered a walk around and through central park with an approximate length of time along each part of the route, and with the option of removing some of the choices.

Okay, not bad for the first try. I could do that on one of my days in NYC. But upon refreshing the screen to find another selection I was disappointed to find the same map presented to me. I guess in some ways I shouldn't have been surprised as I used the same search term, but in a city the size of Manhattan, I would have thought that it would be churning out 'tour' after tour covering the width and length of the city.

So, I went a bit more general with my next search term, 'New York City'. Ah now it was covering a bit more ground, with a walk lasting approximately 4.5 hours starting at the centre of the Brooklyn Bridge.

















Okay, time to get a bit more specific on my next search, 'Financial District, Manhattan'.

Well, this walk does include the financial district, but also takes me quite a way away from it too. Hmmm.....


















As I mentioned, you can put in how many days you are staying in the area, but the maximum number of days is 5. I clicked on day 2 for Financial District. Now this is more like it. Much closer to the area. Things are looking up!


















Until....Day 3. Where Google City Tours had run out of suggestions altogether.

So, my initial excitement about Google's City Tours waned very quickly. It just isn't good enough. Lack of choice. Restriction on days. And although you can put in exact dates, the information doesn't seem to change. For example, I would have liked up to date events and seasonal suggestions included. I don't really know how they pull the information together, but overall it was a disappointing experience.

I think I'll stick to planning my own walks, maybe selecting one from a guide book, or more likely just go where the wind blow me! :)

The quickest way I know to make connections in New York City

Hands up who loves twitter!

I love twitter so much I even organised a twitter flash mob!



And I'm intending to make the most out of this wonderful social media tool when I am in New York City.

For the past couple of months I've started to follow tweeters in NYC. There's quite a mixture of organisations, things to do, as well as fellow photographers and social media peeps and people who have piqued my interest.











I've started exchanging tweets, getting to know people, and have even been invited to a couple of nights out!

And although I am putting a lot of planning into the Big Apple Unpeeled, I want to leave room for spontaniety.

One of the apps I use on my iPhone is a twitter client called Twitterrific. It meets all my tweeting needs when I am on the move.

However, there is one feature that I haven't tapped into yet; the Nearby feature.

No matter where you are, if you tap on Nearby, it will show you a list of tweeters within your vicinity and what they are saying.

























So, I'm gonna see who and what is going on around me. If something or someone interests me, then I'm just going to say 'Hi' and see what happens! Perhaps I'll make a new friend, perhaps not. Maybe I'll end up somewhere interesting maybe not. But I'm going to give it a try and of course I'll be reporting back here!

My handy little pocket computer

During the next few weeks, I'll be chatting about some of the tech I am taking with me to New York.

First up! My iPhone.

I sometimes wonder how I managed without it. I purchased my iPhone earlier this year and I haven't looked back.

This is going to be an essential tool in my Big Apple Unpeeled adventure. It will be by my side pretty much at all times and it will be very useful for giving up to the minute reports, photographs and videos. It's handily got everything I need.





















Some of the benefits of an iPhone for my trip:

• Pocket Sized
• Easy to use
• Internet browsing
• Maps - Handy if I get lost!
• Camera & video including live video streaming applications
• Email access
• Built in wifi
• Dictaphone - Handy for making memos on the move
• Great apps! Twitter, flickr, youtube, weather, blogging, what's on, news.....
• Oh, and it makes phone calls and sends texts!

What more could you ask for? Well, the only thing I can see being a bit of a problem is it's battery life. For average day to day use I have to charge my phone once a day. With heavier use in New York I can see me running out of power before the end of the day.

This is something I am going to have to look into - to see if there is a mobile charger of sorts that can help extend the battery life. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. And if you think there are any apps that would be essential to the Big Apple Unpeeled trip, give me a shout! :)

Travelling Solo, but I won't be alone

I will be travelling solo in New York City, however, I don't plan on being alone.

Thanks to all the social media tools we have available I will still have my friends and followers with me on the journey - virtually at least.

Given the speed of communication we now have access to through the internet, there is no reason not to be able to keep in touch. As well as sharing my Big Apple adventure, my friends and followers can comment and quickly interact making it more of a participatory experience.

Contrast this to about 8 years ago when I first got online. I bought my first computer with the aim of using it to plan a 2 month solo trip around the USA. Researching my trip I found that not every venue or hotel had a website. I made many long distant calls to the U.S. I didn't book my multiple flights (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, Orland, New York) online, but went into a travel agents. Scanning my old guidebooks now, there is a distinct lack of website addresses attached to the 'must see' and 'don't miss' recommendations.

I think a few people may have been blogging 8 years ago, but the word hadn't registered on my radar. Facebook hadn't been invented. Or Youtube. And certainly not twitter. My main avenues of keeping in touch with a few friends and family then was by postcard/letters, the occasional email when I could find an internet cafe and the odd long distance phone call. As for photographs, I had my old film camera and waited patiently until I got home to develop my pictures.

That two month trip was amazing and I loved every minute of it. But there was something missing. I'd see these incredible sights, have experiences I wanted to share, have the odd moment of doubt, take part in an amazing event, but there was no one there I could immediately turn to and say, "Hey! Did you see that?!" There was a delay between the experience and being able to share it.

NOW? Wow!

We have every means available to keep connected and share sights and sounds. Broadband, Wifi, laptops, net books, mobile phones that can have us online in seconds. We are embracing, sharing, consuming media like never before and with free live video streaming we can broadcast our news within seconds.

My two month trip was a good practice run, but this time around things are going to be so much different, and I'll have my friends, family and followers viturally by my side.